


This Is You

by starkerswonderland



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: Avengers have just become known, M/M, Peter interviews Tony, Peter is a Student, Peter studies journalism, Starker, Tony Stark is Iron Man, just a little sweet something
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-16 22:41:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28964058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starkerswonderland/pseuds/starkerswonderland
Summary: Peter has to furfill an assignment for his journalism studies. He has to interview a public person his professor chooses for him.When he receives the mail and reads the name, his heart drops.Tony Stark.
Relationships: Peter Parker/Tony Stark
Comments: 17
Kudos: 67





	This Is You

**Author's Note:**

  * For [keenwonderlandcollector](https://archiveofourown.org/users/keenwonderlandcollector/gifts).



> Hey lovely sweethearts!  
> A loooong while ago my adorable @keenwonderlandcollector sent me this request:  
> “So I was thinking about Peter being a journalism student, and for an assignment he has to interview Tony Stark (Avengers have just become known), and Tony is immediately attracted to him and is determined to win Peter over”  
> And I finally managed to write something for it... I gave all my heart into it for you, my sweet darling sister, I really really hope you like it!

**Describe yourself in three words (adjectives).**  
dreamy, curious, brave

 **Explain why you chose these answers.**  
My mom says I am a dreamer because I like to think so much. My dad says I am too curious because I want to know everything. I think I am brave because I protected Mom last week. There was a spider in the kitchen.

 **What are three things you want to do in the future?**  
1\. Write a looooong book  
2\. Be in love  
3\. Have a house for all of my family

 **What do you like most on people?**  
Smiles

 **What is your favourite part of school?**  
Meeting my best friend Ned

“Oh god, please tell me this isn’t what I think it is..?”, Peter asked, his eyes widening with embarrassment as he saw the framed piece of paper on the wall in his parent’s house.

Peters mother just smiled bright and kissed her son’s cheek. “You know I keep all the old stuff and…a few days ago I found it in one of the old boxes and…now that you do not live here anymore, I might have gotten a little sentimental…and aside from that, Honey, this is just you. Every answer of it is just so much you…”, she smiled, proud like only a mother could be, with all the love she carried in her heart visible in her eyes.

“Mom, I answered that test as a little kid”, Peter chuckled, shaking his head. So many years had passed…Peter moved out to study journalism in university and had his own life – more or less – visiting his parents at least once a week, if he found the time to. His mother appreciated it, always took care he left with a big box full of food, little goodies he liked and sweet little messages to motivate him. Peter knew…he was lucky to have such a support…to feel so unconditionally loved by his family.

“It still fits to you”, Peter’s mother just smiled and handed him the box. Peter smiled and looked at her…thankful and with all his love. “Thank you, Mom…really… We will see again next weekend…alright?”, he offered and she smiled, nodded and hugged Peter.

“Oh and tell me how that assignment turns out!”

“I will, if I managed to make it turn out in any way”, he laughed and then waved her goodbye, left the house he spent all his childhood in. Whenever he came back, he just felt his heart warming up again, being filled with all those precious memories. So... leaving from here always made him feel a little homesick…but there also was this longing for the excitement of everything that was to come in his future.

He made the tiny, really tiny, apartment in New York his home. He loved the large windows, loved that it was so small and cosy…he loved the wall full of photos he made himself…he loved the old wing chair his grandpa gave him. It was his own little chaotic world.

-

After arriving in his little flat, Peter quickly grabbed his laptop and opened it. It was past 18.00 o’clock and so his assignment would be out now. All the students of his class had to work on this assignment – each and everyone of them would get the task to interview a person, not just any random person. A public person. Someone who was known. It could be everything, from a rich business man to the mayor of New York. They had to do a professional interview and work out an article about this afterwards. The tricky part was that they couldn’t choose who they would interview. It was decided by the professor, who probably would allocate the interview partners to them completely random. After getting to know who they would interview they had just one day to prepare for it.

That could be easy…or really hard. Just because you interviewed someone did not mean this person would answer every question…or like the way you asked…or opened up to you about anything. And even if so – you still had to make an interesting story out of it. One that could catch the reader’s interest but still had to be truthful.

Peter was more than excited to get to know who he would interview. He searched through his mails and let out a sigh as there was no announcement yet.

“Oh god pleeeasse….I need to know!”, he sighed dramatically and leaned back in his chair. Staring at his laptop to conjure it to come up with a mail did not help a lot, so Peter chose to see what delicious food his mother had packed in his box and eat some of that. He switched on the TV, sitting down in his wing chair and absently following the news. They were talking about the Avengers again, a group of real superheroes that had just become known. People were going absolutely crazy over it and somehow, Peter got it. How cool was it to know such powerful people existed? That they chose to spend their life helping people, protecting them?

It made Peter dream about how it would be to be part of this team…to be someone so special…He loved to sink into such daydreams, imagining everything to the smallest detail and revelling in it for a while.

In a way, that was why he loved writing so much. It was a way to make dreams come true. Even if they were only written down on paper, if he could see these stories in his mind and other readers could do so too, they came to life. The human mind, fantasy, in particular, had absolutely no limits. It could take you everywhere you wanted to be, whenever you wanted to…that was something Peter loved. It was something so unique for every person and it was completely untouchable.

He got lost in his thoughts, smiling to himself as a little “ping” from his laptop made him almost drop his plate. “Oh shit..!”, he gasped and quickly jumped up, sat down in front of his laptop and stared at the new mail from his professor. Okay. He was ready. Moment of truth.

He closed his eyes and pressed the button to open it.

Slowly he opened his eyes again. Just one…then the other. And there was the name. The person he would have to interview.

Tony Stark.

Peter’s heart dropped and he grew pale. Tony Stark? THE Tony Stark…? There was no way this was just a misunderstanding, there were not all too many Tony Starks in New York…

He stared at the display…. How was he supposed to interview someone like him? Someone so…

“Incredible”, he texted and pressed sent, without thinking about it any longer. The answer came quick.

“What? What’s incredible? You got your assignment? WHO IS IT?”

Peter still stared at the name on the display before taking his phone in his hand to answer his best friend.

“Yeah, Yeah I got it. It’s…Ned. I’m not joking now. Sit down. Not kidding! I got…Tony Stark.”

That he wasn’t receiving an immediate answer was probably already some kind of answer.

“I told you to sit down first!”, he sent with a light grin on his face.

“Oh my fuckin..ewfpjswefh!”, was the answer he now received that only made him laugh more…but also made him even more excited. He was really going to meet the man… The man he only admired from a far distance, while watching the news or seeing YouTube videos…

And he just got one day to prepare. To find the questions he wanted to ask (he probably could ask anything, a story about TONY STARK would be interesting anyways, even if they were just talking about the best recipes for potatoes), to find an outfit…and most of all…to mentally prepare to see him in person.

-

Peter took in a deep breath…fixed his hair for probably the millionth time. He could do this. He smiled to himself in the mirror before he left the restrooms of this gigantic building. He arrived way too early for his interview and had to wait, giving him the opportunity to fix himself and to calm down (or get even more excited).

Finally, a blonde woman walked over to him, introducing herself as Pepper Potts. She guided him to the elevator.

“Can I see the questions you prepared?”, she asked with a polite smile and Peter bit his lip before smiling apologetically. “uhm…I prepared some but…I usually never write them down before…I just…you know I see how the conversation goes and..”

Pepper nodded, smiled but the expression in her face changed a bit. Almost like…pity?

Peter knew that look. He saw it so many times… He saw it back then when he had to make a presentation in school about his favourite book and his choice was one that no one even ever heard of. He got that look when he went to university, explaining he never made the effort to create a writer’s blog about food or travelling or pets. People looked at him as if they wanted to say… “Oh you poor boy. You have no idea what you are doing, you will fail.”

But just like all the times before…he was determined to prove he could do this. Just because he did things differently did not mean he was doomed to fail.

Pepper led him to an office, knocked on the door and stepped inside.

“Tony, the interviewer is here”, she announced and Peter slowly stepped into the room. There were large windows, granting a view over the rooftops of New York. There was a massive desk, pieces of art on the walls. It was modern, just like you would imagine the office of Tony Stark…and the man himself sat at the desk, wearing a three-piece suit that fit him way too well.

Tony looked up at Pepper and then at the person following her. Their eyes met and Peter froze where he stood, feeling sparks shooting through his body. He did not even notice Pepper leaving again, but suddenly, as if he’d been floating over to him, Tony was right in front of him, holding out his hand.

“Mr. …Parker, right?”, his voice was tickling under his skin and Peter nodded, softly grabbing the man’s hand. “Peter Parker….”, he added, caught in those chocolate eyes…

Tony held his hand, not even shaking it and smirked. All the time he thought this interview would just be a… little necessity. Something he wanted to get done quickly. He surely changed his mind about this a minute ago.

“Here..have a seat…anything to drink?”, Tony offered and walked back to the desk. Peter watched Tony move and followed, sat down on one of the soft chairs. The view from here was amazing…but not only the town managed to amaze him right now. He forced himself to be calm…to be as professional as he could be.

“Uhm..no..thank you”, Peter answered and got out his notebook and a pen. Despite his, clearly obvious, fascination for the man he really wanted to get the best possible result out of this…after all, it was important for his studies and…he wanted to leave a good impression.

Tony sat down opposite to Peter, watching the young man. He had so many interviews in his life, he was always a public person, thanks to his dad. Most of those journalists bored Tony. It was necessary or sometimes just hard to avoid to talk to them. And their questions never even triggered him to give a wholehearted answer.

But this here…

Tony tapped on his desk, finding himself smiling. He felt the need to ask the boy if he was…hungry. Thirsty. Anything, actually. He could use so many things to maybe get this cute student to spend more time with him.

“Alright. How about this…”, Tony began. “You leave me the list of your questions here…as well as your e-mail address, and I just mail you all my answers. Then you got it all written down, perfect for your assignment, right? And we use our precious time here and now for something more…fun.”

Peter frowned. Was Tony Stark really kicking him out a minute after he walked in?

“Well with fun I mean…let’s go grab something to eat. I’ll invite you.”

Tony thought he was being flirty and really generous here but…the expression on Peter’s face did not light up the way he hoped it would.

“Mr. Stark…I…”, Peter shook his head, trying to be polite but determined. “I am here to do this interview with you…and I would be really thankful if we could get through the questions together...?”

Tony leaned back and raised a brow. Was that boy really turning him down? Refusing a date with him? Or maybe he did not make that clear enough. His flirting surely was a bit…rough. Too direct. Was it even just flirting if he tried to get right to a date? He had gotten so used to just use one-liners and to not even having to put much effort in flirting to get what he wanted.

“Of course, I did not mean to ruin your interview.” He needed the younger man to be comfortable around him if he wanted to not come across like an asshole just looking for some fun. Which he wasn’t. Even if the whole world liked to believe that. And Tony made them believe it, because…why not. He would not fight to make them see the truth just to be disappointed in the end.

Peter smiled, shifting a little in his chair. It felt weird that Tony asked him to go out with him.. in a way he felt like Tony maybe did this with way too many people, so he couldn’t know how much honesty was in that request. It could be that this was just Tony’s way of handling things, maybe he hoped to avoid questions he would not like or maybe he was just genuinely bored by the situation already. There were so many possibilities….

Peter bit his lip, thinking of…changing his questions. He had prepared such usual stuff like…How it was to be Iron Man…what his most dangerous experience was…what his motive for his actions was…. things Tony probably had been asked a million times.

But these were the things people wanted to know…people loved to read. He had to make a decision now…did he want to…deliver the usual content just in his words and maybe bore the hell out of Tony…or did he want to try something else?

“Are we going to do the interview now or did you change your mind and we will have dinner first?”, Tony grinned, he seemed relaxed, not as if he was running out of patience.

“Mr. Stark…”, Peter looked back at him, “I would like to know…what would you tell your younger self if you could? Is there…any advice you would give?”

Tony frowned for a moment, clearly being surprised by that question. He had to think about it for a moment.

“I would definitely give him the advice to take things a little easier and be patient…the best obviously comes when you least expect it..”, he smiled and looked at Peter in such an intense way that Peter had to look away to not melt.

He wrote down what Tony said, biting back a grin. He was not just imagining this like in one of his thousand daydreams…Tony was really flirting with him. The only question was…how serious was the man about it? Was it just some fun to pass the time?

“A good advice…”, Peter smiled. He stopped to write and stared at the page for a moment as an idea popped up in his mind. He turned the page and started to quickly write questions down.

“Okay…Mr. Stark...these might sound weird but…just answer as honest as you can”, Peter smiled politely and Tony got interested in what was about to come.

And he truly had to admit…as Peter was asking him to describe himself in three words and to explain why he chose those answers, he was surprised. It was so simple it was almost…funny. Far from professional journalism. But…the younger one knew that. Right? Tony hoped so...

“Genius…billionaire…philanthropist. And for the why…well. It’s obvious, I guess”, he grinned and watched Peter write something down. He couldn’t see what exactly, but for the short answer he gave it was a bit too long, a bit too much.

The next questions weren’t less weird. He was asked about three things he wanted to do in the future and what he liked most on people.

“Making energy cleaner...keeping this weird boy band I am in going and…going on a date with you”, Tony smoothly answered, noticing the blush on the boy’s cheeks and how he tried to focus on his notebook and not on him. “And I guess I like most…”, he leaned forward a bit, “when they got such beautiful hazel eyes like yours…”

Peter swallowed down the feeling of having to squeak, focusing on his notes even harder and hoping Tony would not notice he really made him break out in sweat right now. He was just a natural charmer…nothing else…right?

“Okay…so…”, Peter mumbled, cleared his throat before he continued. “Last question….”

“What was your favourite part of this day?”

Tony smiled. Again, an easy question. And one he could answer so truthfully that it almost hurt. Not the he was a liar in general, but he always found a way to avoid giving answers that gave away too much of things he found people did not have to know about him. Yet, here he was…answering absolutely honest. “Meeting you, Mr. Parker..”

Peter wrote something down, looking at the filled paged in front of him before he looked back at Tony.

“That was a bit short for an interview…you sure you are done?”, Tony asked, doubting that his answers to those way too simple questions would give enough material for a good article.

“I am sure…”, Peter nodded, smiling as if he had just managed to achieve something amazing. The boy really fascinated and confused Tony a bit at the same time.

“Then we really got some time left here, I think. You sure you want no dinner?”, Tony offered with a charming grin, hoping to reach the young soon-to-be-journalist in front of him.

“I am sure…Mr. Stark…thank you..”, Peter got up and ripped the piece of paper off his notebook, placing it on Tony’s desk.

“Thank you for your time..”, he smiled and slowly turned around. Peter bit his lip as he left the office, feeling his heart pounding in his chest.

Tony stared at Peter, watched him leave and opened his mouth for a moment, not able to say something. How the….What the…. How many times did Peter refuse to go out with him again? What kind of interview was that? Tony was truly confused. Was something wrong with him today? Was he just having a weird dream?

Slowly, he grabbed the piece of paper Peter left here on his desk and looked at it. On it, there were the questions Peter had asked…but not the answers Tony had given…instead…Peter wrote something else.

**Describe yourself in three words.**

_self-critical, good-hearted, reserved_

**Explain why you chose these answers.**

_hiding it too obviously by pretending to be the exact opposite_

**What are three things you want to do in the future?**

_1\. Finding happiness_

_2\. Finding love_

_3\. Knowing everyone’s safe_

**What do you like most on people?**

_when they really see you_

**What was your favourite part of this day?**

_meeting you_

Tony read through the answers…once, twice…he slowly turned the paged around and placed it back on the desk, noticing there was also something written on the back of it.

“Is this you? If so, I would love to have dinner with you.”

Under the little note was a phone number…Tony brushed his thumb over it and shook his head slightly, smiling.

After a minute or two, just staring at this piece of paper and thinking about this boy that just made him so damn curious, he got out his phone, he typed a message and sent it to the new number.

“This is me. To be fair you will have to let me see who you are. How about tonight? TS”


End file.
